I’ve received two mailers from the Republican Party attacking Bill O’Gurek, candidate for Carbon County Commissioner. The first one basically accused him of causing the high unemployment rate in Carbon County; the second implied that he went up to the county facility at Weatherwood and pushed old people out of their beds.
The Supreme Court set the stage for this type of campaign with its “Citizens United” decision. Corporations, with the same rights as people, can pour money into campaigns without reporting their contributions. Rich individuals can do the same. (Check out the Oct. 10 article in the New Yorker on how one man, Art Pope, is skewing the entire electoral process in North Carolina.)
The Pennsylvania Republican Party has enough money to try to influence a small county race for commissioner. The strategy is to elect Republicans at the local level. Those Republicans will at some point run for higher office.
I recently had an argument with a man who was irritated that I had picketed an event at Penn’s Peak, asking who funded the Carbon County 9/12 group. The 9/12 group was inspired by Glenn Beck and is pretty much a shill for the top 1%. This man said it was perfectly legal for the 9/12 group to keep its donors secret. I told him that it might be legal, but it was wrong. Wrong or not, he is correct. Money is pouring into the political process. It is not pouring into the Democratic Party. This government is for sale, and our side lacks the funding to buy it.
It’s legal, but it’s not democracy. Even worse, the governments that are elected under this system lack legitimacy, and that can be dangerous.
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